Television advertisement tracking

ABSTRACT

A method of television advertisement tracking is described. The method may include identifying an electronic advertisement that is playing on a television. The method may also include storing an identifier of the advertisement in an electronic data storage. The method may include identifying, by the processing device, an activity of a user on a client device. The method may also include determining, by the processing device, an effectiveness score of the advertisement with respect to the user based on the activity of the user on the client device. The method may include storing the effectiveness score of the advertisement in association with the identifier of the advertisement.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to television advertisementtracking.

BACKGROUND

To help sell their goods and/or services, merchants often use televisionadvertisements. The merchants either create the advertisements or theymay hire a third party to create the advertisements. The merchants mayprovide the advertisements to a television broadcaster for display on aconsumer's television.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one example technology area where some embodiments describedherein may be practiced. Further, unless otherwise indicated, thematerials described in the background section are not prior art to theclaims in the present application and are not admitted to be prior artby inclusion in this section.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method of televisionadvertisement tracking may include identifying an electronicadvertisement that is playing on a television. The method may alsoinclude storing an identifier of the advertisement in an electronic datastorage. The method may include identifying, by the processing device,an activity of a user on a client device. The method may also includedetermining, by the processing device, an effectiveness score of theadvertisement with respect to the user based on the activity of the useron the client device. The method may include storing the effectivenessscore of the advertisement in association with the identifier of theadvertisement.

The object and advantages of the embodiments will be realized andachieved at least by the elements, features, and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example operating environment in whichsome embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method of televisionadvertisement tracking that may be implemented in the operatingenvironment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram of another method oftelevision advertisement tracking; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in anexample form of a computing device within which a set of instructions,for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodsdiscussed herein, may be executed.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Merchants may advertise to consumers through television advertisements.These merchants, however, may not be able to track how well theadvertisements are received by consumers or how effective theadvertisements may be to certain consumer demographics. Thus, there maybe a disconnect between advertisements being displayed on television andan understanding of how those advertisements may influence furtheraction related to a subject of the advertisement. Because of thisdisconnect, and for other reasons, merchants and advertisers may notknow how effective their advertisements are to various users anddemographics.

Aspects of the disclosure address these and other shortcomings ofconventional television advertising by providing systems and methods fortracking television advertisement efficacy. Techniques described hereinmay help merchants and advertisers better understand and trackefficaciousness of various advertisements broadcast on televisions. Thisnew understanding made possible by the techniques described herein mayprovide improved advertisement targeting for various users anddemographics. For example, a user may view a car commercial on atelevision. The systems and methods described herein may identifyactivities of that user, such as whether that user browses the Internetfor the car depicted in the commercial, or whether that user visits acar dealership that sells the car model depicted in the commercial. Thesystems and methods may use the user activities to determine whichadvertisement may be more likely to cause the user to make a purchase.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example operating environment100 in which some embodiments may be implemented, arranged in accordancewith at least one embodiment described herein. The example operatingenvironment 100 may include a television 102, a set-top box 104, aclient device 106, a network 108, a server 110 and a data storage 112.

The television 102 may include a device that is configured to presentvideo content via a display device. The video content may include anaudio component that plays simultaneously with the video content. Forease in explanation, “video content” may refer to a combination of videoand audio content. The video content may include an electronic file thatmay be executed or loaded using software, firmware or hardwareconfigured to present the content to a user via the television 102.Video content may also include live-streamed content and media itemsavailable on-demand. The television 102 may receive the video contentfrom any source, such as from an over-the-air broadcaster, satellite,cable, a streaming device (e.g., from the client device 106), or fromany other source capable of sending video content to the television 102.The video content may include (or be supplemented with) one or moreelectronic advertisements. The electronic advertisements may advertiseany product or service and may be received from any source. In at leastone embodiment, to play an advertisement, the television 102 may stopplayback of video content and play the advertisement. Once presentationof the advertisement is complete, the television 102 may resume playbackof the video content.

In at least one embodiment, the example operating environment 100 mayinclude a set-top box (STB) 104. The STB 104 may include a device thatis configured to convert video content to analog or digital TV signals.In at least one embodiment, the STB 104 includes a satellite TV receiveror an over-the-air digital-to-analog converter. In at least one otherembodiment, the STB 104 may include a media hub that connects to a localnetwork for Internet access and may convert video from online mediaproviders (e.g., Netflix, Hulu) into TV signals. The STB 104 may alsoconnect to and receive content from the client device 106. The STB 104may send analog or digital TV signals to the television 102 forplayback. In at least one embodiment the STB 104 is integrated with thetelevision 102.

The client device 106 may include a computing device which may include,but is not limited to, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), or other suitable computing device. The client device 106 mayinclude any number of applications that may enable a user to performvarious tasks. The applications may also include various advertisementand activity tracking components. In at least one embodiment, the clientdevice 106 may include one or more sensors, receivers and/ortransceivers (not illustrated) that may be configured to detectactivities. The sensors, receivers and/or transceivers may include anaudio sensor (e.g., a microphone), a wireless digital signal transceiver(e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave), a motion sensor (e.g.,gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS unit), and the like.

In general, the network 108 may include one or more wide area networks(WANs) and/or local area networks (LANs) that enable the television 102,set-top box 104, client device 106, server 110, and data storage 112 tocommunicate with each other. In some embodiments, the network 108includes the Internet, including a global internetwork formed by logicaland physical connections between multiple WANs and/or LANs. Alternatelyor additionally, the network 108 may include one or more cellular RFnetworks and/or one or more wired and/or wireless networks such as, butnot limited to, 802.xx networks, Bluetooth access points, wirelessaccess points, Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced networks,IP-based networks, or the like. The network 108 may also include serversthat enable one type of network to interface with another type ofnetwork.

The example operating environment 100 may include any number of servers110. The server 110 may include one or more computing devices, (such asa rackmount server, a router computer, a server computer, a personalcomputer, a mainframe computer, a laptop computer, a web server, a proxyserver, a desktop computer, etc.), data stores (e.g., hard disks,memories, databases), networks, software components, and/or hardwarecomponents. The server 110 may provide digital content (e.g., digitalvideo, streaming video, images, digital music, streaming music, socialmedia information, etc.) to the television 102 and/or the STB 104. Toprovide digital content, for example, the server 110 determine whether auser is permitted to access content selected by the user (e.g., whetherthe user is a subscriber). The server 110 may also provideadvertisements to the television 102 and/or the STB 104.

In at least one embodiment, the data storage 112 may include a memory(e.g., random access memory), a cache, a drive (e.g., a hard drive), aflash drive, a database system, or another type of component or devicecapable of storing data. The data storage 112 may also include multiplestorage components (e.g., multiple drives or multiple databases) thatmay span multiple computing devices (e.g., multiple server computers).The data storage 112 may store one or more user profiles 140 thatinclude advertisement information about a user. For example, the userprofile 140 may include information about what advertisements a user mayhave been exposed to (stored as advertisement identifier(s) 142), whatuser activities the user may have been engaged in while being exposed tothe advertisement (stored as user activities 144), an advertisementeffectiveness score 146 and user identity data 148. Although each of theclient device 106 and data storage 112 are depicted in FIG. 1 as single,disparate components, these components may be implemented together in asingle device or networked in various combinations of multiple differentdevices that operate together.

The client device 106 may also include an advertisement manager 120that, based at least in part on activities of the user and/or the clientdevice, may determine effectiveness of an advertisement with respect toa user (or of a demographic that includes the user). The advertisementmanager 120 may be configured to detect an advertisement that iscurrently playing on the television 102. In at least one embodiment,when playing an advertisement, the television 102 (or STB 104) may senda message (e.g., a digital communication) to the advertisement manager120 that identifies the advertisement. The message may include anidentifier of the advertisement (which the advertisement manager 120 maystore as an advertisement identifier 142 in the data storage 112), oneor more timestamps (e.g., start time of the advertisement, end time ofthe advertisement), a length of the advertisement, etc. In at least oneembodiment, the message may include a sound that may be detected by amicrophone of the client device 106. The sound may be associated with aparticular advertisement. In at least one embodiment, the sound may beoutside of a human auditory range. The advertisement manager 120 mayreceive a notification that the microphone has detected the sound andthat the particular advertisement is playing on the television 102. Theadvertisement manager 120 may record an identifier 142 of theadvertisement and a timestamp in the user activities 144 of data storage112. In at least one other embodiment, the message may be a digitizedmessage (e.g., binary code) that may be associated with a particularadvertisement identifier in the database. The advertisement manager 120may look up the digitized message in a database to identify theadvertisement identifier.

In at least one embodiment, the television 102 or the STB 104 may sendchannel information and a location (e.g., a zip code) to the clientdevice 106. The client device 106 may use the channel information andlocation to look up a TV listing that includes information andtimestamps for advertisements that were played. In at least oneembodiment, the television 102 or the STB 104 may receive metadata withthe content such that the television 102 or the STB 104 are aware ofwhat advertisements are to be played at what times. The television 102or the STB 104 may send this information to the client device 106.

The client device 106 may include at least one application (notillustrated) that allows an end user to select and/or view content onthe television 102 via the STB 104. For example, the application may bea web browser that may present a list of video content items to the enduser. As a web browser, the application may also access, retrieve,present, and/or navigate content (e.g., web pages such as Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML) pages, digital media items, etc.) served by a webserver. The application may render, display, and/or present the listcontent to the end user. The application may also provide an embeddedmedia player (e.g., a Flash® player or an HTML5 player) that is embeddedin a web page (e.g., a web page that may provide information about aproduct sold by an online merchant). In another example, the applicationmay be a standalone application (e.g., a mobile application or mobileapp) that allows users to consume digital media items (e.g., digitalvideos, digital images, electronic books, websites, etc.). Theapplication may be provided to the client device 106 by the server 110or via an application store.

The client device 106 may include an activity manager 122 to identifyone or more activities of the user and/or the client device 106. Exampleactivities may include being exposed to an advertisement (e.g., anadvertisement detected by the advertisement manager, a movement (e.g.,movement of a physical location or position), a consumer activity (e.g.,browsing webpages, making a purchase), a disinterested activity (e.g.,an activity that may indicate a low level of user interest in anadvertisement), etc. The activity manager 122 may identify activitiespertaining to a particular advertisement before, during and/or after thetelevision 102 plays the advertisement. In at least one embodiment, theactivity manager 122 may monitor other applications and activities ofthe user on the client device 106.

In an example pertaining to the activity manager 122 detecting amovement activity, the example operating environment 100 may include anarea 124. The area 124 may be geographically defined, such as by abuilding, a room within the building, etc. In at least one embodiment,the area 124 may be defined by a video content-based characteristic, acharacteristic of the television 102 and/or a sensor of the clientdevice 106. For example, the area 124 may be defined by a current volumelevel of video content that is playing on the television 102, asdetected by a microphone of the client device 106. The client device 106may move in and out of the area 124 as illustrated by the arrow 126. Theactivity manager 122 may determine when the client device 106 moves inand out of the area 124. For example, when the client device 106 movesfar enough away from the television 102 such that the microphone nolonger detects sound from the television 102 (or the detected soundfalls below a sound threshold), then the activity manager 122 maydetermine that the client device 106 may have moved outside of the area124. In at least one embodiment, the activity manager 122 may use adetected volume level to determine a user distance from the television102.

In another example, the client device 106 may connect to the television102 and/or the STB 104 via a wireless link, such as Bluetooth. Thewireless link may be disconnected when the client device 106 movesfurther than a threshold distance away from the television 102 and/orthe STB 104. In at least one embodiment, a wireless radio may beconfigurable to cover a user-selected distance. The television 102and/or the STB 104 may detect that the connection to the client device106 has been lost in response to the connection being disconnected. Anyof the activities may be stored as user activities 144 in the userprofile 140 in the data storage 112. User activities 144 may be storedin association with a particular advertisement identifier 142 when theuser activities 144. For example, activities that the user engages inwhile the advertisement is playing on the television 102 may beassociated with each other.

In another example, the activity manager 122 may determine that theclient device 106 was previously in or near a retail store based on abeacon device at the retail store. The activity manager 122 may laterdetermine that the user is near the television 102. Based on beaconinformation, the advertisement manager 120 may select an advertisementto present via the television 102. The advertisement, for example, mayrelate to a product that is sold in the retail store. Similarly, theactivity manager 122 may determine, such as by using beacon technology,whether the client device 106 travels near the retail store after theadvertisement was presented via the television 102. The activity manager122 may also detect whether a purchase occurs at the store. For example,the store may send information to the activity manager 122 indicative ofthe purchase. In another example, the user may authorize the activitymanager 122 to receive information of the purchase, such as via anelectronic receipt emailed to the user.

The advertisement manager 120 may use the advertisement identifier 142and associated user activities 144 to determine an advertisementeffectiveness score 146. The advertisement effectiveness score 146 mayindicate an aggregate effectiveness of an advertisement with respect tothe user. Effectiveness may relate to whether the user took furtheraction related to the advertisement after seeing the advertisement. Useractivities that may indicate positive reception of the advertisement mayincrease the effectiveness score 146. Similarly, user activities thatmay indicate negative reception of the advertisement may decrease theeffectiveness score 146. For example, during or after a movie-relatedadvertisement is presented on the television 102, the activity manager122 may detect that the user used the client device 106 to search forshow times for the movie. Such an activity may increase theeffectiveness score 146. In another example, the user changing thechannel or leaving the area 124 while the advertisement is beingpresented on the television 102 may decrease the effectiveness score146. The advertisement manager 120 may update an effectiveness score 146based on additional activities of the user, such as the user beingexposed to another identical or similar advertisement, the user making apurchase of a product or service that was featured in the originaladvertisement, etc.

The user profile 140 may also include user identity data 148. The useridentity data 148 may include basic information about the user forpurposes of advertisement tracking. For example, the user identity data148 may include a device identifier (e.g., MAC address, UUID) toidentify the user. In at least one embodiment, the user identity data148 may include account information or a “logged-in” status for accountsassociated with other applications and/or platforms. The activitymanager 122 may report any of the information in the user profile 140 tothe advertisement engine 132.

The advertisement engine 132 may use any of the information in the userprofile 140 to for various marketing and advertising campaigns to theuser, to a demographic that includes the user, etc. For example, if theuser profile 140 includes information that after the user was exposed toan advertisement three times, the user was more likely to engage in anunrelated activity (e.g., walk away from the television, change thechannel, browse the web for an unrelated feature, talk to others in thearea 124), then the advertisement engine 132 may set a maximum number oftimes to send a future advertisement to the user.

In at least one embodiment, the example operating environment 100 mayinclude multiple client devices, for example another client device 114.The television 102 and/or the STB 104 may detect client devices (e.g.,client device 106 and client device 114) that may be in or near the area124. The television 102 and/or the STB 104 may detect a first userprofile associated with the client device 106 and a second user profilethat is associated with the client device 114. For example, thetelevision 102 and/or the STB 104 may detect a device identifier (e.g.,MAC address, UUID) for each client device and then determine that afirst UUID of the client device 106 is associated with the first userprofile and a second UUID of the client device 114 is associated withthe second user profile. The television 102 and/or the STB 104 mayselect advertisements to present based on the first user profile and thesecond user profile. For example, the first user profile and the seconduser profile may both indicate an interest in tennis and the first userprofile may indicate a recent purchase of a new tennis racquet. Thetelevision 102 and/or the STB 104 may select an advertisement for thetennis racquet to present via the television 102.

In at least one embodiment, the advertisement manager 120 may identifythe first and second user profiles. In at least one embodiment, theclient device 114 may also include advertisement manager (notillustrated) that may communicate with advertisement manager 120 on theclient device 106. For example, the advertisement manager pair may shareuser profiles and, based on the first and second user profiles, mayrequest a particular advertisement from the advertisement engine 132.

In at least one embodiment, some of the example described may beperformed by the advertisement engine 132. For example, the television102 and/or the STB 104 may detect the first user profile and the seconduser profile and send them to the advertisement engine 132. Theadvertisement engine 132 may use the first user profile and the seconduser profile to determine the tennis racquet advertisement. Theadvertisement engine 132 may cause the tennis racquet advertisement tobe presented on the television 102. In at least one embodiment, thetennis racquet advertisement may be presented via the television 102during a next commercial break.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the exampleoperating environment 100 without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. Specifically, embodiments of the example operatingenvironment 100 are depicted in FIG. 1 as including one television 102,one set-top box 104, one network 108, one server 110 and one datastorage 112. However, the present disclosure applies to an exampleoperating environment 100 including one or more televisions 102, one ormore set-top boxes 104, one or more networks 108, one or more servers110 and one or more data storages 112, or any combination thereof.

Moreover, the separation of various components in the embodimentsdescribed herein is not meant to indicate that the separation occurs inall embodiments. Additionally, it may be understood with the benefit ofthis disclosure that the described components may be integrated togetherin a single component or separated into multiple components.

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with an opportunity to control whether the systemsdiscussed collect user information (e.g., information about a user'ssocial network, social actions or activities, profession, a user'spreferences, or a user's current location), or to control whether and/orhow to receive content from the content server that may be more relevantto the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one or moreways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over how information is collected about the userand used by the systems discussed.

FIGS. 2-3 illustrate flow diagrams of various methods related totelevision advertisement tracking. The methods may be performed byprocessing logic that may include hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic,etc.), software (such as is run on a general purpose computer system ora dedicated machine), or a combination of both, which processing logicmay be included in the television 102, the STB 104, the client device106, the server 110, or another computer system or device. Forsimplicity of explanation, methods described herein are depicted anddescribed as a series of acts. However, acts in accordance with thisdisclosure may occur in various orders and/or concurrently, and withother acts not presented and described herein. Further, not allillustrated acts may be required to implement the methods in accordancewith the disclosed subject matter. In addition, those skilled in the artwill understand and appreciate that the methods may alternatively berepresented as a series of interrelated states via a state diagram orevents. Additionally, the methods disclosed in this specification arecapable of being stored on an article of manufacture, such as anon-transitory computer-readable medium, to facilitate transporting andtransferring such methods to computing devices. The term article ofmanufacture, as used herein, is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable device or storage media. Althoughillustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may be divided intoadditional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, dependingon the desired implementation.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 200 of televisionadvertisement tracking that may be implemented in the operatingenvironment of FIG. 1, arranged in accordance with at least oneembodiment described in the present disclosure.

The method 200 may begin at block 205, where processing logic mayidentify a first activity of a user. Example activities may includebeing exposed to an advertisement (e.g., an advertisement detected bythe advertisement manager, a movement (e.g., movement of a physicallocation or position), a consumer activity (e.g., browsing webpages,making a purchase), a disinterested activity (e.g., an activity that mayindicate a low level of user interest in an advertisement), etc. Theprocessing logic may identify activities pertaining to a particularadvertisement before, during and/or after a television plays theadvertisement. In at least one embodiment, the processing logic maymonitor other applications and activities of the user on a clientdevice.

At block 210, the processing logic may identify an advertisement that isplaying on a television. The television or a STB connect to thetelevision may send a message that indicates the advertisement is beingplayed on the television, as further described above.

At block 215, the processing logic may determine that a client device isnear the television while the advertisement is playing. The processinglogic may detect a connection between a television and/or set-top boxand the client device. The connection may be a wireless connection wherethe television and/or set-top box are paired with the client device. Inat least one embodiment, the processing logic may periodically ping theclient device and listen for a response. When the processing logicreceives a response to a ping, the processing logic may determine thatthe client device is near the television. In at least one embodiment,the processing logic may send the ping in response to identifying theadvertisement that is playing on the television at block 215. In atleast one embodiment, the processing logic may listen for a hellomessage from the client device. Upon receiving the hello message, theprocessing logic may determine that the client device is near thetelevision while the advertisement identified at block 215 is playing.At block 220, the processing logic may store an identifier of theadvertisement in an electronic data storage. At block 225, theprocessing logic may identify an activity of a user on a client device,as further described in conjunction with FIG. 1.

At block 230, the processing logic may determine an effectiveness scoreof the advertisement with respect to the user based on the activity ofthe user on the client device. At block 235, the processing logic maystore the effectiveness score of the advertisement in association withthe identifier of the advertisement. The processing logic may store theidentifier of the advertisement and the effectiveness score of theadvertisement in a first user profile for the user. The advertisementeffectiveness score may indicate an effectiveness of an advertisementwith respect to the user. Effectiveness may relate to whether the usertook further action related to the advertisement after seeing theadvertisement. User activities that may indicate positive reception ofthe advertisement may increase the effectiveness score. Similarly, useractivities that may indicate negative reception of the advertisement maydecrease the effectiveness score.

At block 240, the processing logic may send the effectiveness score ofthe advertisement (i.e., the first advertisement) and the identifier ofthe first advertisement to an advertisement engine. The advertisementengine may be configured to cause a second electronic advertisement tobe played on the television based on the effectiveness score of thefirst advertisement and the identifier of the first advertisement. Forexample, the advertisement engine may determine that the firstadvertisement is associated with a particular type or category ofadvertisements. Based on the effectiveness score of the firstadvertisement, that type or category of advertisements may not be asinteresting to the user. The advertisement engine may select the secondadvertisement that may be more interesting to the user by selecting anadvertisement from a particular type or category of advertisements,where one or more of the advertisements in that particular type orcategory may have a higher effectiveness score than the firstadvertisement.

For this and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the functionsperformed in the processes and methods may be implemented in differingorder. Further, the outlined steps and operations are only provided asexamples, and some of the steps and operations may be optional, combinedinto fewer steps and operations, or expanded into additional steps andoperations without detracting from the essence of the disclosedembodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram of another method 300 oftelevision advertisement tracking. At block 305, the processing logicmay identify an advertisement that is playing on a television, asfurther described above.

At block 310, the processing logic may identify a first client deviceand a second client device. The processing logic identify the firstclient device and the second client device by detecting a connectionbetween a television and/or set-top box and the first client device andthe second client device. The connection may be a wireless connectionwhere the television and/or set-top box are paired with the first clientdevice and the second client device. In at least one embodiment, theprocessing logic may periodically ping the first client device and thesecond client device and listen for a response. When the processinglogic receives a response to a ping, the processing logic may determinethat the first client device and/or the second client device are nearthe television. In at least one embodiment, the processing logic maysend the ping in response to identifying an advertisement that isplaying on the television. In at least one embodiment, the processinglogic may listen for a hello message from the first client device andthe second client device. Upon receiving the hello message, theprocessing logic may determine that the first client device and/or thesecond client device is near the television.

At block 315, the processing logic may identify a first user profile anda second user profile. The processing logic may identify the first userprofile and the second user profile based on identifying the firstclient device and the second client device at block 310. For example,the processing logic may identify the first client device and the secondclient device, determine a device ID for each device and lookup thedevice IDs in a data storage. The device ID may be stored in the datastorage in association with a corresponding user profile. The processinglogic may identify the first user profile and the second user profile bylooking up respective device IDs for the first client device and thesecond client device. In at least one embodiment, the processing logicmay identify the first user profile and the second user profile withoutidentifying the first client device and the second client device. Forexample, a user may log into an account on the television and/or theset-top box. The user may also log into the same account from theirrespective client device. The television and/or the set-top box and theclient device may be connected to a same network. The processing logicmay detect that the user is logged into account on the television and/orthe set-top box and the client device and on the same network. Theprocessing logic may identify the user profile based on this detectionthat the user is logged into account on the television and/or theset-top box and the client device and on the same network.

At block 320, the processing logic may cause a second advertisement tobe played on the television. In at least one embodiment, the processinglogic may cause an advertisement to be played on the television based onthe identification of the first client device and the second clientdevice at block 310. In at least one embodiment, the processing logicmay cause an advertisement to be played on the television based on theidentification of the first user profile and the second user profile atblock 315. In at least one embodiment, the processing logic maydetermine that the second client device (or second user profile) hasentered an area. Based on the second client device (or second userprofile) entering the area, the processing logic may identify a secondadvertisement as being possibly more interesting to the first user andthe second user.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexample form of a computing device 400 within which a set ofinstructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethods discussed herein, may be executed. The computing device 400 mayinclude a mobile phone, a smart phone, a netbook computer, a rackmountserver, a router computer, a server computer, a personal computer, amainframe computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktopcomputer etc., within which a set of instructions, for causing themachine to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein, maybe executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine may be connected(e.g., networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet,or the Internet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a servermachine in client-server network environment. The machine may include apersonal computer (PC), a set-top box (STB), a server, a network router,switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated,the term “machine” may also include any collection of machines thatindividually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructionsto perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein.

The example computing device 400 includes a processing device (e.g., aprocessor) 402, a main memory 404 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flashmemory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM(SDRAM)), a static memory 406 (e.g., flash memory, static random accessmemory (SRAM)) and a data storage device 416, which communicate witheach other via a bus 408.

Processing device 402 represents one or more general-purpose processingdevices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like.More particularly, the processing device 402 may include a complexinstruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction setcomputing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW)microprocessor, or a processor implementing other instruction sets orprocessors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Theprocessing device 402 may also include one or more special-purposeprocessing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), network processor, or the like. The processing device402 is configured to execute instructions 426 for performing theoperations and steps discussed herein.

The computing device 400 may further include a network interface device422 which may communicate with a network 418. The computing device 400also may include a display device 410 (e.g., a liquid crystal display(LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 412(e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 414 (e.g., a mouse) and asignal generation device 420 (e.g., a speaker). In one implementation,the display device 410, the alphanumeric input device 412, and thecursor control device 414 may be combined into a single component ordevice (e.g., an LCD touch screen).

The data storage device 416 may include a computer-readable storagemedium 424 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 426embodying any one or more of the methods or functions described herein.The instructions 426 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 404 and/or within the processing device 402during execution thereof by the computing device 400, the main memory404 and the processing device 402 also constituting computer-readablemedia. The instructions may further be transmitted or received over anetwork 418 via the network interface device 422.

While the computer-readable storage medium 426 is shown in an exampleembodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable storagemedium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable storage medium” may also include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methods of the present disclosure. The term“computer-readable storage medium” may accordingly be taken to include,but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical media and magneticmedia.

Terms used herein and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies ofthe appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., theterm “including” may be interpreted as “including, but not limited to,”the term “having” may be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” may be interpreted as “includes, but is not limited to,”etc.).

Additionally, if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases may not beconstrued to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” may be interpreted to mean “at least one” or“one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitationis explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that suchrecitation may be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g.,the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, meansat least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Further, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” or “one or more of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such aconstruction is intended to include A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B, and C together,etc. For example, the use of the term “and/or” is intended to beconstrued in this manner.

Further, any disjunctive word or phrase presenting two or morealternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, maybe understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of theterms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A orB” may be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “Aand B.”

Embodiments described herein may be implemented using computer-readablemedia for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or datastructures stored thereon. Such computer-readable media may be anyavailable media that may be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readablestorage media including Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory(ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM),Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memorydevices (e.g., solid state memory devices), or any other storage mediumwhich may be used to carry or store desired program code in the form ofcomputer-executable instructions or data structures and which may beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Combinationsof the above may also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Computer-executable instructions may include, for example, instructionsand data which cause a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or special purpose processing device (e.g., one or moreprocessors) to perform a certain function or group of functions.Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

As used herein, the terms “module” or “component” may refer to specifichardware implementations configured to perform the operations of themodule or component and/or software objects or software routines thatmay be stored on and/or executed by general purpose hardware (e.g.,computer-readable media, processing devices, etc.) of the computingsystem. In some embodiments, the different components, modules, engines,and services described herein may be implemented as objects or processesthat execute on the computing system (e.g., as separate threads). Whilesome of the system and methods described herein are generally describedas being implemented in software (stored on and/or executed by generalpurpose hardware), specific hardware implementations or a combination ofsoftware and specific hardware implementations are also possible andcontemplated. In this description, a “computing entity” may be anycomputing system as previously defined herein, or any module orcombination of modulates running on a computing system.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the invention andthe concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and areto be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recitedexamples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosurehave been described in detail, it may be understood that the variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations may be made hereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

1. A method comprising: identifying, by a processing device, anelectronic advertisement that is playing on a television; storing anidentifier of the electronic advertisement in an electronic datastorage; determining that a client device is near the television whilethe electronic advertisement is playing on the television; identifying,by the processing device, an activity of a user on the client device;determining, by the processing device, an effectiveness score of theelectronic advertisement with respect to the user based on the activityof the user on the client device; and storing the effectiveness score ofthe electronic advertisement in association with the identifier of theelectronic advertisement.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising sending the effectiveness score of the electronicadvertisement and the identifier of the electronic advertisement to anadvertisement engine, wherein the advertisement engine is configured tocause a second electronic advertisement to be played on the televisionbased on the effectiveness score of the electronic advertisement and theidentifier of the electronic advertisement.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the identifier of the electronic advertisement and theeffectiveness score of the electronic advertisement are stored in afirst user profile for the user.
 5. The method of claim 4 furthercomprising: detecting a second client device; identifying a second userprofile that is associated with the second client device; and causing asecond electronic advertisement to be played on the television based onthe first user profile and the second user profile.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising identifying a second activity of the user,wherein the electronic advertisement is played on the television basedon the second activity of the user.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinidentifying the electronic advertisement that is playing on thetelevision comprises receiving a digital communication that includes theidentifier.
 8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having encodedtherein programming code executable by a processor to perform or controlperformance of operations comprising: identifying, by a processingdevice, an electronic advertisement that is playing on a television;storing an identifier of the electronic advertisement in an electronicdata storage; determining that a client device is near the televisionwhile the electronic advertisement is playing on the television;identifying, by the processing device, an activity of a user on theclient device; determining, by the processing device, an effectivenessscore of the electronic advertisement with respect to the user based onthe activity of the user on the client device; and storing theeffectiveness score of the electronic advertisement in association withthe identifier of the electronic advertisement.
 9. (canceled)
 10. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, the operationsfurther comprising sending the effectiveness score of the electronicadvertisement and the identifier of the electronic advertisement to anadvertisement engine, wherein the advertisement engine is configured tocause a second electronic advertisement to be played on the televisionbased on the effectiveness score of the electronic advertisement and theidentifier of the electronic advertisement.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the identifier of theelectronic advertisement and the effectiveness score of the electronicadvertisement are stored in a first user profile for the user.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, the operationsfurther comprising: detecting a second client device; identifying asecond user profile that is associated with the second client device;and causing a second electronic advertisement to be played on thetelevision based on the first user profile and the second user profile.13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, theoperations further comprising identifying a second activity of the user,wherein the electronic advertisement is played on the television basedon the second activity of the user.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein identifying the electronicadvertisement that is playing on the television comprises receiving adigital communication that includes the identifier.
 15. A systemcomprising: a memory; and a processing device operatively coupled to thememory, the processing device being configured to: identify anelectronic advertisement that is playing on a television; store anidentifier of the electronic advertisement in an electronic datastorage; determine that a client device is near the television while theelectronic advertisement is playing on the television; identify, by theprocessing device, an activity of a user on [[a]] the client device;determine, by the processing device, an effectiveness score of theelectronic advertisement with respect to the user based on the activityof the user on the client device; and store the effectiveness score ofthe electronic advertisement in association with the identifier of theelectronic advertisement.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The system of claim 15,wherein the processing device is further configured to send theeffectiveness score of the electronic advertisement and the identifierof the electronic advertisement to an advertisement engine, wherein theadvertisement engine is configured to cause a second electronicadvertisement to be played on the television based on the effectivenessscore of the electronic advertisement and the identifier of theelectronic advertisement.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein theidentifier of the electronic advertisement and the effectiveness scoreof the electronic advertisement are stored in a first user profile forthe user.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the processing device isfurther configured to: detect a second client device; identify a seconduser profile that is associated with the second client device; and causea second electronic advertisement to be played on the television basedon the first user profile and the second user profile.
 20. The system ofclaim 15, wherein when identifying the electronic advertisement that isplaying on the television, the processing device is configured toreceive a digital communication that includes the identifier.